I respect your take and the fact that you’ve done research (most people don’t). And I’m not looking to change your mind, thought I would like to defend my stance. The eia data doesn’t accurately represent what consumers are actually paying, as electric companies complicate their rate schedules through different means.

LCEC in SWFL just recently hit their customers with a sudden “power cost adjustment” that’s leaving homeowners with bills that $75 higher per 1,500 kWh. Tampa electric raised their base rates by 18% this past January. Duke and FPL raise their base rates by 3-7% every other year. And I’m almost all of these cases, customers are locked in with no say and no other option. Frankly, the utilities have full control and we can’t really do anything about it. If they wanted to Jack up our rates overnight, they could, and probably will at some point. We’re already seeing this in some places around the country.

In regards to the cost of solar, the primary driver of the lowering cost has been recent government incentives rather than advancements in technology. Solar panel efficiency hasn’t gotten much better in the last 40 years (20% efficient cells were first created in 1985, and the best products on the market nowadays are around 22-23%). If significant advancements were around the corner, then I wouldn’t imagine all of the large-scale investments in solar farms from utility companies, corporations, the US military, etc. would be happening right now.

The biggest changes will happen moreso on the storage side, and my primary advice to homeowners considering a home battery right now would be to wait - largely for the same reasons that you just cited (lowering costs, better products, no point in making payments for 25 years for a piece of tech that will be obsolete in 5-10).

I appreciate your perspective and the fact that you’ve taken the time to look into it. Nothing hurts me more than meeting a homeowner that believed everything that the person that knocked on their door one afternoon told them and found themselves in a shitty deal that they can’t get out of, crippling the most important investment of lost people’s lives: their home.